Category Archives: Online concerts

Online Concerts – The Cardinall’s Musick / Andrew Carwood: Byrd 400th anniversary

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William Byrd
Masses for 4, 3 and 5 voices

The Cardinall’s Musick / Andrew Carwood

Wigmore Hall, London
Tuesday 4 July 2023

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Photos (c) Benjamin Ealovega

This week we have been marking the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, one of the founding fathers of English classical music as we know it today.

One of the key events on Tuesday, the day itself, was a trio of concerts at the Wigmore Hall from the Cardinall’s Musick choir and their conductor Andrew Carwood. Together they have recorded all of Byrd’s choral music for the Gaudeamus and Hyperion labels, but on this occasion the focus was the composer’s three Mass settings.

Context for these unique works is vital, and it was given by an extremely helpful and thorough note from Katherine Butler, bolstered by musical insight, and also from Carwood himself in well-chosen asides to the audience. Both illustrated vividly how perilous Byrd’s own position as a composer was, for as a Catholic he was compelled to write settings of the mass, despite knowing public airings of the music would be against the demands of his monarch, Elizabeth I, for whom he was royal composer. If discovered, these performances could bring about imprisonment and even death. Because of this, the works lay undiscovered in their largely anonymous packaging, used for very private occasions presided over by a priest who would even have his own bolthole, should the ceremony be discovered.

Byrd
Mass for 4 voices (c1592-3), with the Propers for the Feast of Easter Day

The Cardinall’s Musick [Patrick Craig, Matthew Venner (altos), William Balkwill, Mark Dobell (tenors), Richard Bannan, Robert Rice (baritones), Edward Grint, Nathan Harrison (basses)] / Andrew Carwood

The three Cardinall’s Musick concerts began with a lunchtime account of the Mass for Four Voices, dating from around 1592-3, and given context by in performance by Byrd’s settings of the Propers for Easter, completed in 1607. These began with a celebratory Introit, with its busy acclamation of the resurrection, with the mood changing for a solemn, weighty Kyrie from the Mass. This was given plenty of room by Carwood, with superb control from the singers in their sustaining of the notes. A fulsome Gloria followed, notable for its clarity of line and rhythm. Carwood was judicious in harnessing the ten voices available to him, reducing the forces to five for the Gradual & Alleluia. Here, the portrayal of ‘Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando’ (death and life have fought a huge battle)’ was vividly conveyed, before ‘et gloriam vidi resurgentis’ (‘and I saw the glory of the rising’) reached impressive heights.

The substantial Credo was paced just right, with a holding back from the ‘descendit’, with controlled lower notes to complement. A busy Offertory and graceful Sanctus were beautifully sung, the music gradually unfolding. The Communion (Pascha nostrum) was slow, appropriately reverent and pure, before the moving Agnus Dei had as its end a final chant and response telling us the Mass had finished.

Byrd
Mass for 3 voices (c1593-4), with the Propers for the Feast of Corpus Christi

The Cardinall’s Musick [Julie Cooper, Laura Oldfield (sopranos), Patrick Craig, Matthew Venner (altos), William Balkwill, Mark Dobell (tenors), Nathan Harrison (bass)] / Andrew Carwood

As Andrew Carwood explained, we heard some of the richest music in the first concert, then some of the most intimate in the second. This was music of the recusant house rather than the big church or cathedral, and Carwood invited us to imagine we were in a building no bigger than a sitting room. With Catholics shrouded in secrecy, he gave an idea of just how risky this music making was.

We heard the Mass For Three Voices, with a noticeable reduction in texture from the lunchtime concert, as well as less movement within the parts. That said, there was an air of restrained celebration all the same. A quick Kyrie & more florid Gloria was sung with two to a part, and while the single parts could be left exposed they were very secure in these hands, notably the tricky entries from on high. The Propers on this occasion were for the feast of Corpus Christi and were published in 1605. They featured a ‘risky’ Gradual, before a six-piece Credo found a lovely peak on the words ‘Et ascendit in caelum (and ascended into heaven)’ and a beautiful confluence at the end. There was a suitably thoughtful start to the Sanctus, which became more florid in its ‘Hosanna’ exultations. The Communion was outwardly expressive, retreating to a sombre Agnus Dei and a solemn final chant.

Byrd
Mass for 5 voices (c1594-5), with the Propers for the Feast of All Saints

The Cardinall’s Musick [Julie Cooper, Laura Oldfield (sopranos), Patrick Craig, Matthew Venner (altos), Ben Alden, William Balkwill, Mark Dobell (tenors), Edward Grint, Robert Rice (bass)] / Andrew Carwood

Finally the evening concert gave the Mass for Five voices with the Propers for the Feast of All Saints of 1605 – an effervescent celebration but becoming more meditative as the music proceeded. Carwood, revelling in the occasion, conducted with great sensitivity once again, presiding over a busy Introit with the rejoicing angels. The layered Kyrie of the Mass itself was ideally weighted, making the most of the chromatic possibilities, before a relatively restrained Gloria. The five voices, with increasingly complex writing, were nonetheless easy to follow, their rhythmic lightness suggesting a dance at the end of the Gradual – Carwood referring to the repartee between the voices.

He then referenced the intensity of Byrd’s writing, the declamation in the Credo and its extraordinary harmony, fusing of madrigal techniques into the mass. It was helpful to have these insights on top of the booklet notes, for Carwood setting Byrd apart as a composer even from the likes of Palestrina. The full ten-voice Credo explored deeply felt power and resonance, an incredibly expressive movement, while the purity of the sopranos shone through in the Offertory. A slow Sanctus gradually gathered pace with more complex writing, before the Communion – making explicit reference to the persecution Byrd felt, gave an appropriate stress to the words ‘propter iustitiam (for righteousness’ sake)’ and showed some well-handled dissonances. Finally an Agnus Dei of solemn, minor key angst found peace at last, capped by the closing sentence.

The choir and their conductor received a deservedly rapturous reception, for their beautiful and controlled singing had given Byrd the best possible remembrance, marking the death of this musical martyr in appropriate style. The Cardinall’s Musick and the Wigmore Hall should be applauded for such a well-conceived and executed trio of concerts, which are highly recommended for online viewing!

You can listen to the Cardinall’s Musick recordings of the Byrd Masses, dating from 2000, on the Spotify link below:

Online Concert: Orsino Ensemble at Wigmore Hall – Britten, Reicha & Janáček

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Orsino Ensemble [Adam Walker (flute), Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Matthew Hunt (clarinet), Amy Harman (bassoon), Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn), Peter Sparks (bass clarinet)]

Britten Movement for wind sextet (1930)
Reicha Wind Quintet in E flat major Op.88/2 (1811)
Janáček Mládí (1924)

Wigmore Hall, Monday 5 June 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

This attractive programme of works for wind ensemble began with a rarity.

Benjamin Britten seldom wrote for wind – a shame, since his writing for the instrumental family as soloists or in an orchestral context is remarkably assured. The Movement for Wind Sextet performed here by the Orsino Ensemble is thought to have been a response to Janáček’s Mládí – and is scored for the same forces. This account was shady and elusive to begin with, reflecting its elusive melodic and harmonic figures. There was beautiful control from Nicholas Daniel’s oboe solo before a quicker section featured some lovely ‘burbling’ sounds from the clarinets, oboe and flute pushing for the higher reaches. Ultimately this piece remains beyond reach, an intriguing if slightly frustrating sign of what might have been had Britten committed more wholeheartedly to the wind ensemble.

It made a welcome change to hear the music of Anton Reicha. Born in Bohemia in 1770, Reicha – a flautist – soon found himself leading the court orchestra in Bonn, where his musicians included a certain viola player named Beethoven. Moving on to Paris, Reicha taught at the Conservatoire, where his pupils included Berlioz, Franck and Liszt. In spite of these big-name links, his own music is not heard as often as it should be. He did however write prolifically for wind ensemble, completing 24 accomplished quintets, which are among his most-heard compositions.

The Wind Quintet in E flat major is a particularly attractive example, and received the ideal performance here. The Orsino Ensemble began with a brightly voiced Lento, with the added plus of Amy Harman’s characterful bassoon in the lower register as the ensuing Allegro began. This provided the impetus for the ensemble to exchange attractive melodies, enjoying the beautiful sonorities a wind ensemble can create. The Menuetto had a lovely lilt to its triple time, with busy inner parts to support the genial melody. The third movement also had a winsome lilt to its rhythmic profile, albeit a good deal slower – and with lovely operatic solos from oboe and clarinet. The perky last movement added humour to the mix, with some thoroughly enjoyable interplay, delivered here with virtuosity and style.

Janáček’s sound world is immediately different to those around it – as is the case with the intriguing wind sextet Mladi. Written as a ‘memoir of youth’, and composed around the same time as his masterpiece The Cunning Little Vixen, the work looks back to a childhood in Hukvaldy. Premiered in Brno in 1924, it was first performed in Britain – at the Wigmore Hall in front of the composer – in 1926.

The conflicting accounts of youth, refracted through the mind of a 70 year-old composer, are fascinating to the ear, with joyful moments tempered by unexpected, melancholic asides. There is however an underlying positivity running through the music.

The Orsino Ensemble enjoyed the raucous folk-based tunes along with the doleful asides that are such a characteristic of his work. The rich shades of colour were ideally exploited. Shadows lengthened over the second movement, depicting the composer and his mother parting at a train station. The third movement had the vigour of youth, with some sparky themes, while there was a motoric element to the last theme, generated by the horn – before more complementing aspects of joy and melancholy.

This was a very fine concert, with an encore dedicated to the recently passed Kaija Saariaho. Nicholas Daniel introduced the second of Oliver Knussen’s 3 fantasies for wind quintet, preceded by the poem How Sweet To Be A Cloud, part of the composer’s Hums and Songs of Winnie-the-Pooh. The sonorities we heard here were unexpectedly true to Saariaho’s sound world, and formed a characteristically striking memorial.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here

Online Concert: Alina Ibragimova & Cédric Tiberghien at Wigmore Hall – Schumann: Violin Sonatas 1 & 2

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Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cédric Tiberghien (piano)

Schumann
Violin Sonata no.1 in A minor Op.105 (1851)
Violin Sonata no.2 in D minor Op.121 (1853)

Wigmore Hall, Monday 15 May 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

It is only in relatively recent years that the violin sonatas of Robert Schumann have begun to get their proper dues. Schumann wrote three such works, sitting at the mature end of his output, and each is shot through with concentrated feeling.

The Violin Sonata no.1 was written in an unfortunate climate, Schumann admitting that it was reflecting a period when he was ‘very angry with certain people’. Certainly its beginning here, with Alina Ibragimova deep in concentration, had a furrowed brow and a darker mood. Yet it was not long in this performance when shafts of sunlight appeared, especially when the harmony moved into the major key. A period of intense reflection was followed by a drive to the finish, propelled by Cédric Tiberghien‘s flowing piano.

The second movement, effectively a slow movement and a scherzo combined, had an appreciably lighter mood with which to begin but cut to a more agitated frame of mind for the scherzo, its contours ideally negotiated by these two fine performers.

The relatively short sonata finished with a busy and determined third movement, digging in but also drawing back to reveal lighter colours and moods. Schumann’s dispute, it seems, was resolved.

The Violin Sonata no.2 is almost twice the length of its predecessor, and is perhaps beginning to reach the status its musical content deserves. To begin with it is an imposing proposition, and Ibragimova brought a granite-like surety to the double stopping, revealing hints of Bach in the responding recitative. In spite of the first movement’s substantial dimensions, it was consistently compelling in this performance, with passionate violin and flowing piano responding really well to each other and maintaining a really satisfying balance. The opening theme coarsed with drama but the broad phrases of the later theme became assertive and ultimately dominant.

The scherzo showed typically energetic Schumann figure, but remained anxious around the edges until its final acclamation. Meanwhile the third movement presented an opportunity for reflection in the plaintive but highly expressive pizzicato with which it began, both performers enjoying the hymn-like nature of the theme even in its loosely strummed form. Gradually the substance of the theme revealed itself, beautifully expressed in natural phrasing, especially in the second variation, with double stopping from the violin.

The finale pushed forward with great urgency, Ibragimova pushing the relentless theme forward while Tiberghien gave a substantial and weighty supporting voice. The two finished each other’s sentences as Schumann’s motifs passed between the instruments, before an emphatic and rapturous finish in the major key.

The musicians were not quite finished, treating us to a beautifully weighted account of Schumann’s song Abendlied as an encore.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here

Online Concert: Tom Borrow @ Wigmore Hall – J.S. Bach, Franck & Rachmaninoff

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Tom Borrow (piano)

J.S. Bach Italian Concerto in F major BWV971 (pub. 1735)
Franck Prélude, choral et fugue (1884)
Rachmaninoff Variations on a theme of Corelli Op.42 (1931)

Wigmore Hall, Monday 1 May 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

This BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert featured the New Generation pianist Tom Borrow, making his debut at the Wigmore Hall with a very well-judged trio of works casting their eyes back to the past. The Israeli-born performer was notably comfortable in the environment, responding to the intimate atmosphere of the hall with compelling music-making.

Bach’s Italian Concerto was first, a work that is particularly successful on the piano. Borrow’s articulation in a crisp Allegro was very pleasing to the ear, his enjoyment of the counterpoint evident. The Andante was particularly beautiful, and completely unhurried – the pianist not afraid to give the right hand plenty of room to expand Bach’s melodies, the left hand hushed but responsive too. The bustling Presto had plenty of musical activity, the energetic profile maintained throughout but again the shapely melodic phrasing winning through.

Franck’s Prélude, choral et fugue is the best known of his works for solo piano. Its form looks back to the organ works of Bach, inserting a ‘chorale’ section in between the more conventional pair of ‘prelude’ and ‘fugue’. Here the Prélude began softly, Borrow’s light touch bringing delicacy to the decorative arpeggios around the theme, while also bringing the parallels with Brahms into focus. The choral started softy but grew in stature, moving from darkness to bright light, Borrow crossing hands to play the theme with apparent ease. The flowing discourse here was notable, maybe not as loud as some pianists but finding the heart of Franck’s expression nonetheless. The fugue was stately but also mysterious to begin with, the pianist bringing forward its chromatic profile, but then taking full command of the intense exchanges and achieving a most impressive performance in the process. The closing peal of bells was brilliantly played.

Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a theme of Corelli completed the trio of retrospective works, this one another remarkably concentrated piece offering plenty of opportunity for virtuosity and interpretative skill. This was again taken up by Borrow, once again setting a reverent atmosphere with the slow exposition of the theme. The lilting second variation in triple time was persuasively delivered, while a commanding fifth variation and sweeping seventh carried all before them. This only heightened the mysterious eighth and ninth variations, lost in thought.

The dynamic contrasts of the twelfth variation were very well observed, then the anxious syncopations of the thirteenth. The following Intermezzo had the requisite elements of fantasy, followed by a yearning chorale for Variation 14. Borrow’s technical command was impressive throughout, notably in the twists and turns of Variation 16 and the jagged edges of the eighteenth variation onwards. The clarity here was notable, in spite of the volume – and the thunderous finish was complemented by a radiant coda.

Borrow’s encore choice was well-suited – a flowing account of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G# minor Op.32/12, with notes that twinkled in the upper right hand at the end.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here

Online Concert: Nash Ensemble @ Wigmore Hall – Mozart & Fauré

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Nash Ensemble [Alasdair Beatson (piano), Corey Cerovsek, Michael Gurevich (violins), Rachel Roberts (viola), Adrian Brendel (cello)]

Mozart Piano Concerto no.14 in E flat major K449 (1784)
Fauré Piano Quartet no.1 in C minor Op.15 (1876-9, rev. 1883)

Wigmore Hall, Monday 17 April 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

Mozart and Fauré make a good concert match, and it was a nice touch by the Nash Ensemble to choose one of the piano concertos with which to start this BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert

Although Mozart wrote two piano quartets, in 1785 and 1786, he was in the middle of a white-hot streak of creativity between where he wrote a dozen piano concertos in two years. This remarkable period of musical fluency began with the Piano Concerto no.14 in E flat major, which as it happens is highly suitable for the piano quartet combination of piano, violin, viola and cello. To this combination Mozart added one more violin, securing a highly successful domestic first performance in 1784.

The Nash Ensemble players clearly enjoyed this authentic showing. Alasdair Beatson took the solo role by balancing flair and sensitivity, while the strings ensured this attractive work was off to an airy start. That said, they weren’t afraid to dig in when the music turned towards the darker side, and the key of C minor, but E flat won out with its purely positive energy, especially when Mozart’s trill-like figure was introduced. Beatson’s cadenza was beautifully judged, virtuosic but lyrical too.

A softly rendered second movement brought through the piano’s florid figurations but also enjoyed the sweet, still motion of the strings. The Wigmore Hall seemed sunnier for the group’s approach, as it did in the bright and breezy third movement, with sparkling exchanges and a thoroughly enjoyable triple time section which the players clearly relished. This was a fine performance, fulfilling the first principles of chamber music.

Some of Fauré’s very best music can be found in his chamber works, a remarkably consistent body of work running through his career from the First Violin Sonata of 1876 to the String Quartet of 1924. The two piano quartets sit towards the top of this list, the first an outpouring of feeling in the wake of his broken engagement with Marianna Viardot.

The Nash Ensemble communicated this intensity from the passionate swell of the first melody, but there was resolve and determination too, even in Corey Cerovsek’s bittersweet violin solo during the flowing central section. This was where we felt the unique shafts of sunlight that Fauré throws into even the stormiest fast movements, and the harmonic sleight of hand that would be a standout feature of his music.

The second movement Scherzo showed off another of the composer’s traits, the ability to write light-hearted music with long phrases and unusual syncopations. The sleights of hand here were most enjoyable, with purity of tone from the strings and a dextrous piano part from Beatson.

Yet it was the slow movement that contained the emotional heart of the performance, Beatson listening attentively to the playing of his colleagues, Adrian Brendel‘s yearning cello phrase taken up in unison by the strings. Under the twinkling of Beatson’s right hand those strings spoke deeply and longingly.

Fauré had trouble with the finale, revising it after some less than positive feedback from his friends. This 1884 revision, however, turns its thoughts to the future with music of renewed resolve, another characteristically broad phrase looking outwards from the strings over typically tricky piano figures. Needless to say, the Nash Ensemble harnessed all these qualities, capping a memorable performance.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here